New & Noteworthy

Colleges, administration, and professors across the United States are responding to student organizing around the conflict in Gaza. In light of this organizing, we compiled 6 pieces from us and our partners to read on student organizing.

First Hand Faculty Experiences on Campus Issues

• Mass Movements; Moral Moments by Donna Gabaccia reflects on her first-hand experience as a faculty member during an incident of police abuse in Minneapolis, recalling a distressing scene where a young Black teenager was unjustly detained by police in a library.

Young Adults and Social Structure of Protests

• When Youth Become Activists by Amber Joy Powell writes up some research on the nationwide youth-led movement advocating for stricter gun control in 2018, demonstrating the significant impact young activists can have using modern tools like social media to enhance their cause.
• in brief: close to the issue by Parker Muzzerall on how proximity to protests, such as the Occupy Central Movement in Hong Kong, increases support for the movement and shifts political ideologies leftward among nearby residents, despite the disruptions caused.

Challenges of Involving Police

• Political Protest and the Call for Law and Order by Amber Joy Powell covers the NRA’s response to progressive political protestors and how political figureheads have historically responded to social instability.
• Mizzou and Millennial tolerance for shutting down free speech by Lisa Wade coverage of the 2015 surge of student activism on issues of racism and changes on funding and resignations, while sparking debates about free speech and highlighting trends showing that Millennials are increasingly supportive of government censorship of speech offensive to minorities.

Public Opinion and Tolerance (or lack of) on Campus Protests and Academic Freedom in Sociology

• Curriculum, Culture Wars, and Sociology in the Classroom by Forrest Lovette and John Purnell respond to the recent attacks on the discipline in Florida, covering the value of sociology, free speech/academic freedom, and anti-intellectualism in American culture.

Turning to Clippings, this week includes Erin Cech and Elana Goldenkoff‘s article for The Conversation assessing how prepared engineers are to face ethical dilemmas regarding AI,  Richard Ocejo in the Times Union on his new book Sixty Miles Upriver: Gentrification and Race in a Small American City, Robert Bullard‘s recent win of the TIME Earth Award in recognition of his work in environmental justice, and Stephanie Alice Baker‘s article for The Conversation on how wellness influencers are contributing to misleading information about birth control on social media sites. 

And lastly, new from The Conversation, we reposted their new piece by Cheryl Cooky, Is this the dawn of a new era in women’s sports? This piece covers Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and the record-breaking viewership of this year’s women’s Final Four.

Behind the Scenes with TSP

Summer is nearly here! At TSP, this time of year means taking inventory of our current projects and setting new goals for the summer. This summer, we will be posting a TSP Summer Reading List with some recommended summer readings:

More from our Partners & Community Pages

The latest from Contexts:

• we need a sociology of flourishing by Trevor Auldridge-Reveles and Demetrius Miles Murphy covers the need to shift sociology’s focus from social problems to studying and fostering well-being and flourishing.
• q&a with dr. ryan al-natour by Colter J. Uscola covers the opposition to teaching of Critical Race Theory in Australia.
• a sesame street feat by Parker Muzzerall‘s coverage of research on Sesame Street’s global success from co-producing culturally adapted versions through a collaborative exchange of values and knowledge between American distributors and local cultural producers.

New posts from the Council on Comtemporary Families include:

• Mothers Are the Primary Earners in Growing Numbers of Families with Children (reprinted) by Jennifer Glass, R. Kelly Raley, and Joanna Pepin highlighting research that 70% of American mothers will be the primary breadwinner for at least one year during their first 18 years of motherhood.

New & Noteworthy

Our latest ‘There’s Research on That’, War on Women on the Web by S Ericson and Caroline Garland, covers some of the research on the manosphere. These groups vary in their approaches, with some outright attacking women and others using pseudoscience to back their arguments against women.

This week Clippings covers Josh Greenberg‘s article for The Conversation on the resurgence of the vinyl LP, Chizuko Ueno named as one of the 100 most influential people of 2024 by Time Magazine,  Darnell Hunt and Camille Charles in SRN News on how O.J. Simpson’s trial still reflects the realities of racial divisions in America, Ashley Mears in Jacobin on her new book Very Important People: Status and Beauty in the Global Party Circuit, and Artūras Tereškinas in an LRT article about the Eurovision Song Contest and how Lithuanians react to their representatives.

From the Archives

Students across the U.S. continue to organize and protest for Palestine, with 9 arrested at the University of Minnesota today. Read out ‘There’s Research on That’ When Youth Become Activists by Amber Joy Powell to learn about the role that students and youths play in social issues.

“Botched Botox” makes headlines, check out this Sociological Images piece, Botox, Gender, and the Emotional Lobotomy to delve into some of the complexities of this practice.

More from our Partners & Community Pages

Elena G. Van Stee‘s latest piece, making mom proud, covers research by Priya Fielding-Singh and Marianne Cooper which covers how lower-income mothers manage the emotional stress of not meeting societal parenting norms by employing “downscaling” strategies.

Council on Comtemporary Families‘s latest Older Hispanic adults, marital relationships, and depression. Why does the relationship quality matter? which highlights research findings that marital quality significantly impacts mental health, with positive marital interactions reducing depressive symptoms and negative interactions worsening them.

New & Noteworthy

This week’s Clippings includes media coverage of Dana R. Fisher‘s new book: Saving Ourselves: From Climate Shocks to Climate Action in Yale Climate Connections, Agustín Teglia leveraging on chess workshops as a tool to foster socialization among young people who are vulnerable to violence, and marginality in Scroll.in, Tressie McMillan Cottom‘s opinion piece for the New York Times on O.J. Simpson, Apryl Williams new book: Not My Type: Automating Sexual Racism in Online Dating in The Harvard Gazette, and Pamela Prickett and Stefan Timmermans‘s new book The Unclaimed: Abandonment and Hope in the City of Angels reviewed by Alex Kotlowitz for The Atlantic.

From the Archives

Parents of the shooter from Michigan’s school shooting were sentenced to 10-15 years in prison. Check out Context’s piece on some research analyzing these acts of violence as “organizational accidents.”

O.J. Simpson died this past week. Check out our ‘There’s Research on That’, Un-Making a Murderer Still Leaves a Mark by Ryan Larson, to learn about this cultural coverage of crime like in Making a Murderer and others.

Vietnamese business tycoon Truong My Lan was sentenced to death in the country’s largest fraud case. Learn about the “legitimized violence”, or legal violence from a government towards individuals in our ‘There’s Research on That’ by Jillian LaBranche.

More from our Partners & Community Pages

The latest from Contexts includes:

• who gets to speak for autism by Catherine Tan, covering her new book, Spaces on the Spectrum: How Autism Movements Resist Experts and Create Knowledge, on the desires of some parents to use controversial treatments for autism and some autistic rights activists promoting neurodiversity.
• who’s a true American? by Colter J. Uscola covers research by Sam Perry on Christian Nationalism and attitudes towards ethno-racial exclusion/assimilation.
• history lessons by Sophie X. Liu on Chana Teeger‘s research in South Africa with highschool students’ engagement when learning about the Holocaust and Apartheid.

Council on Contemporary Families has a new piece:

• Childfree, Carefree, and Self-Care – The Roles Women Can Play by Kim Martinez Phillips on the experiences of women who choose not to have children and instead focus on autonomy and personal development.

New & Noteworthy

Paula Fomby, Professor of Sociology at Penn Arts & Sciences and Associate Director at the Penn Population Studies Center, published a new TSP Special, Families change. The way we support kids should change too. This piece covers some of the realities of children’s experiences, marriage, and some sociology-based research policies that could benefit children and marriage in the United States.

Shania Kuo has a new Discovery on Asian American Views Towards Affirmative Action from research by Ji-won Lee and W. Carson Byrd. Their research finds that “Over 50% of Koreans, Bangladeshis, Filipinos, and Cambodians were in favor or strongly in favor of race-conscious admissions” and “Chinese, Vietnamese, and Hmong respondents were the least likely to be in favor of affirmative action and more likely to be opposed to it.” Give it a read to learn more about race-conscious admissions attitudes of Asian Americans.

From the Archives

March Madness ended this past weekend, with stories of disparities affecting gender and racial differences in working conditions continuing. Check out this Engaging Sports piece from 2022 on the topic.

The solar eclipse was yesterday – learn more about the prominence of Astrology in society, and meaning/community finding under this non-traditional belief.

More from our Partners & Community Pages

The latest from Contexts includes:

• Seth Abrutyn and Amin Ghaziani reflect on their first year as editors for Contexts – check out their experiences thus far here.
• Have interesting stories from your research you want to share? Click here to learn more about how to share with a broader audience!
• Parker Muzzerall writes up research by Laura Pavón-Benítez and colleagues on the views of Spanish youth perceptions of nightlife on rural versus urban living.

The Council on Contemporary Families has a new piece:

• Richard J. Petts, Trenton D. Mize, and Gayle Kaufman write up some of the perceived likeability of parents who take longer versus shorter parental leave, and the gender differences across mothers and fathers.

New & Noteworthy

We have a new ‘There’s Research on That’ by Forrest Lovette and John Purnell covering the value and role that Sociology has on society, Curriculum, Culture Wars, and Sociology in the Classroom. In response to Flordia’s efforts to de-legitimize the role of sociology in Flordia, this piece covers some research surrounding this recent anti-intellectual attack.

This week’s Clippings includes Caitlyn Collins on The Ezra Klein Show on how national policies, social support, and culture affect experiences of parenthood, The Harvard Crimson coverage of false allegations of plagiarism against Christina Cross, and Amin Ghaziani‘s latest book‘s,  Long Live Queer Nightlife: How the Closing of Gay Bars Sparked a Revolution, coverage by The New York Times.

From the Archives

Long Island County in New York recently restricted a trans woman and roller derby player from playing. Read our recent TSP Special Feature by Chris Knoester covering sex discrimination against trans athletes.

MLB started last week with Shohei Ohtani capturing more headlines. Read some baseball sociology from Contexts to learn about some stats on MLB.

Behind the Scenes with TSP

ASA recently called for submissions on the value of sociology through a TikTok/Instagram contest. Last week, we brainstormed ideas and our fearless undergraduate board members have a number of ideas.

More from our Partners & Community Pages

Here are the latest must-reads from:

Contexts

• the class politics of fine dining by Victor Ray, covering his experience and the intersection of luxury, exploitation, and class dynamics.
• learning curves by Sophie X. Liu covering research by Geoffrey T. Wodtke and colleagues that challenges the prevailing narrative that school quality is the primary determinant of neighborhood-based academic disparities.

Council on Contemporary Families

• Why Do So Many Christian Colleges and Universities Maintain Gendered Residence Life Policies? by Jessica Schachle-Gordon, Gabby Gomez, Jonathan S. Coley, and Dan Morrison on residence life policies at many U.S. Christian colleges and universities – rooted in conservative, cisnormative, and heteronormative beliefs, paradoxically create environments that may cause the things they aim to avoid.

New & Noteworthy

TSP board member Caroline Garland‘s latest Discovery on work by Andréa Becker covers some research on the different experiences of pressures of hysterectomies towards cis women, women of color, and non-binary communities.

This week’s Clippings includes Zeynep Tufekci‘s op-ed for the New York Times on the media frenzy surrounding Kate Middleton’s disappearance from the public eye, Anna Mueller and Seth Abrutyn’s upcoming book Life Under Pressure: The Social Roots of Youth Suicide and What to Do About Them in Mirage News, Haley McEwen in DW – South Africa on how US fundamentalist Christian churches are promoting negative sentiments against LGBTQ+ people and abortion rights in Africa, Michael Burawoy‘s profile on the life of South African sociologist Edward Webster, and Greg Yudin in The New York Times on the upcoming election in Russia.

From the Archives

Last week 70 companies in the U.S. closed their doors to demonstrate support of paid family and medical leave. Read this piece by the Council on Contemporary Families on some of the strains of intensive parenting and the need for expanded parental leave.

Immigration in Texas continues to put a strain on immigrating families and institutions. Read our recent piece by Leo LaBarre on research by Michael T. Light, Jason P. Robey, and Jungmyung Kim about the prosecution of immigrants to learn about the differences between California and Texas policies.

More from our Partners & Community Pages

First Publics has a new Reflections by our very own Douglas Hartmann which covers the balance of old school teaching strategies and modern elements, and Bernadette Ludwig, Susan Rakosi Rosenbloom, and and Kristin Kenneavy share insights to junior faculty on community-based learning courses.

Context’s Elena van Stee spoke with Benjamin Shestakofsky on his latest book  Behind the Startup: How Venture Capital Shapes Work, Innovation, and Inequality – check it out here.

Best for Whom? Breastfeeding and Child Development by Jessica Houston Su on the Council on Contemporary Families covers some of the benefits of breastfeeding and the need for reducing barriers.

give theory a chance has a new release, Hannah McCann on Judith Butler, covering Butler’s theorizing of sex and gender and some of the recent attacks.

New & Noteworthy

Mallory Harrington has a new Discovery on work by Joss Greene on some of the history of gender boundaries in men’s prisons. Covering 1941-2018, this Discovery provides a succinct summary of the development of addressing gender in prisons.

Our media report this week includes The Amsterdam News coverage of Elizabeth Ross Haynes, an African American social worker, sociologist, and author during the early 20th century, Jess Carbino in The New York Times on young, dating adults’ preference to not pay for dating apps, Gaëtan Mangin in The Conversation covering the opinions of older car owns maintaining their old cars as a means of sustainability, Pepper Schwartz in ABC News on the rising use of Ozempic and other GLP-1 agonists for weight loss, and Eric Klinenberg was interviewed by The American Prospect about COVID-19 and some of the impacts social isolation on society.

From the Archives

Vice President Kamala Harris visited an abortion clinic in Minnesota, the first VP to do so. Read this piece from Contexts to learn more about some of the challenges surrounding abortion care.

Dartmouth’s basketball team unionized and Darthmouth has refused to enter into negotiations. Check out our ‘There’s Research on That’ on public opinion on the topic “and revered tradition of amateurism in college sports”, preventing payment of college athletes.

More from our Partners & Community Pages

Give Theory a Chance with Kyle Green has a new episode, with Ugo Corte on the work of Gary Alan Fine.

Contexts‘ latest includes an interview with Dr. Sofya Aptekar by Colter Uscola on her recent article in Contexts, Green Card Soldiers.

Council on Contemporary Families has a new interview with Alicia M. Walker and Bella DePaulo on her new book challenging misconceptions about single life.

New & Noteworthy

Nicole Schmitgen has a new Discovery on work by Margarita Torre on women and union support. According to her research, 11% of Black women are a part of unions, more than other racial groups of women. Future union participation by women is expected to rise.

Our Clippings Media Report includes The Cut interview with Gretchen Sisson on her new book and the adoption industry, Elijah Anderson on the continued relevance of W.E.B. Du Bois’s The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study to today, Eric Klinenberg in Plain English with Derek Thompson on aloneness and loneliness, and Robert Bullard on Living on Earth about flooding in Alabama and segregation.

From the Archives

Libraries continue to be the site of controversy for groups who feel libraries allow too radical books onto its shelves. Read our Discovery by Nick Matthews, Hotspots in Red-Hot Demand in Rural America, to learn more.

Tax Day is coming quick! Learn about some tax myths from Contexts here.

More from our Partners & Community Pages

Contexts latest include:

• Sophie X. Liu writes up study by Nicolo Pinchak and colleagues reveals that the presence of dogs in neighborhoods is related with decreased rates of property and street crimes.
• Jaeun Lim and Benjamin Cornwell‘s latest study challenges the genetic explanation for obesity and detail the importance of social networks on this measure of health, covered by Rose Xueqing Zhang.

Council on Contemporary Families:

• Do I Belong? Isolation and Identity Among Minoritized Youth by Sophia Rodriguez and Gabrielle Cabrera Wy write up their research on minoritized students ‘sense of belonging’ and find they have a weaker ‘sense of belonging’ and more bullying.
• Debby Herbeni covers some findings from her new book, Yes, Your Kid, on today’s teens, sex, and communication.

First Publics has a new Dialogues:

• First Publics talks with Dalton Conley (You May Ask Yourself: An Introduction to Thinking Like a Sociologist), Shamus Khan (A Sociology Experiment), Lisa Wade (Terrible Magnificent Sociology), and Kathleen Korgen (Sociology in Action) on writing their Sociology textbooks.

New & Noteworthy

Richie Zweigenhaft published a new TSP Special on the race and gender of people holding fortune corporate board seats. Comparing 2011 to 2023, Zweigenhaft found that white men have gone from about 2/3 majority to slightly less than 1/2 minority. Read the special here, and the full article here.

This week’s TSP clippings includes Eric Klinenberg on MSNBC’s Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast and in The New Yorker to discuss his new book 2020: One City, Seven People, and the Year Everything Changed, Elizabeth Wrigley-Field in the StarTribune following new research by Wrigley-Field and colleagues that suggests ‘excess deaths’ (the number of deaths over the average expected deaths in a time period), Emine Fidan Elcioglu was interviewed by The Trace about her research examining a southwest border militia group that supplied information on migration routes to the U.S. Border Patrol, and Surinder S. Jodhka in IndiaSpend on India’s caste system fueling social exclusion.

From the Archives

Justice Alito made some controversial statements about same-sex marriage. Read our ‘There’s Research on That’ by Caity Curry and Allison Nobles to learn about some of the complexities surrounding LGBT parents.

Less than a week ago there was a Neo-Nazi rally in downtown Nashville. Learn about some similarities between 1930s Germany and the U.S. today by reading this piece from the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.

More from our Partners & Community Pages

Contexts Latest pieces include:

• Sophie X. Liu on some of the financial and social complexities of the legalization of cannabis in California.
• Katie Mercer and Stefanie Mollborn on the class differences of distancing during COVID-19 and affluent communities’ perceptions of their moral superiority through privilege.

Council on Contemporary Families has several new pieces including:

• Bethany Everett writes on some of the State-Level protections for infant and maternal health of the LGBT community.
• Marcus Maloney and Kate Babin cover some of the implications of Andrew Tate and the appeal of the manosphere.
• Lauren E. Harris covers her research on older adult dating during COVID-19 and interviews with 100 single adults ages 60-83.

The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies posted Professor John Packer‘s annual Holocaust Remembrance Day Lecture, titled “Remembering, Learning, and Applying ‘Never Again’ as the Essential Lesson of the Holocaust.”

New & Noteworthy

This week we have a new Discovery from Mason Jones on Self-Help Books from work by Amber Gwynne. The research found that readers learned that the books were not a “quick fix” and they still needed “to do the heavy lifting”.

Valentine’s Day was this past week and we reposted some pieces from us and our partners to acknowledge the holiday. This includes recent coverage of some sociology by Lauren Harris on ABC’s The Golden Bachelor, Valentine’s Day in Japan, and more.

Our media report from this week includes Scott Schieman (Professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto) in The Conversation on how accurate the ‘unhappy worker’ narrative is, coverage of Boris Kagarlitsky’s (prominent Russian sociologist and editor-in-chief of the Marxist online publication Rabkor) sentencing to five years in prison for his critical view of the war in Ukraine, Tina Fetner‘s (Professor of Sociology at McMaster University) new book, Sex in Canada: The Who, Why, When, and How of Getting Down Up North, in Brighter World and Vancouver is Awesome, and Christina Ciocca Eller in The Harvard Gazette on educational institutions rankings.

From the Archives

Orthodox Greece recently legalized gay marriage. Read Louisa L. Roberts‘s Special Feature on research of international attitudes toward same-sex marriage to learn more.

Russia has made advances in space-based nuclear weapons. Learn about some of the history of testing nuclear weapons from 1945-1998 from this Sociological Images piece by Gwen Sharp.

More from our Partners & Community Pages

Context’s Winter 2024 is out and ready to read! This issue includes pieces on eviction, “Green Card Soldiers”, race and drug addiction, Q&A with Malcolm Gladwell, and much more!

Council on Contemporary Families has two pieces to read. First, Richard Petts and Daniel L. Carlson write up some of their research on domestic labor in Society and Mental Health and how this work extends far beyond childcare. And second, Jennifer Randles and Megan Carroll write up their different research studies on the societal and cultural beliefs surrounding the role of fathers.

First Publics‘s latest includes Calvin John Smiley‘s work on building trust and using practical applications of sociological concepts in education to address the prison-industrial complex.